snake95

I'm not coming at this question with the kind of experience the guys mentioning the Cavitrons and War Eagles have. So take this with that in mind. As a rookie looking for a cheap buzzbait to give it shot, the Strike King Banshee Series for about $4 from Dicks has certainly done well for me over the past two years. Both of my PB largemouth for 2015 and 2016 were caught on this bait, and the majority of my top 5 bass for both years. I had never even seen anyone fish a buzzbait before I started with it. They squeak like crazy. Mine have held up to some vicious strikes. You might do better with another choice, but you certainly won't go wrong with a Banshee.

@the reel ess tell us how you made out with these ds jigheads you bought back last April. I went into an Academy for the first time in my life today (they recently opened one within striking range for me) and was surprised to learn BBB makes jigs!). They apparently have Gammy hooks and seem to have a good length to put a swimbait (or anything) on. Any luck?

SK Sexy Dawg, Rapala Skitter Walk, Super Pop-R

@smalljaw67 as always, thanks for chiming in with a helpful explanation and sharing your experience. I DO like the answer - trial and error makes sense to me!! I am coming at this as sort of a rookie: early last year I put out the question "how to get started with plastics" - and someone suggested I try paddletails on a jighead or T-rig, since I was used to cranking away with minnowbaits and cranks before that. Sure enough, that was super advice and I had a lot of success cranking paddletails around, and it opened the door to me for fishing plastics of various kinds because I could get it to work by cranking away like always, but the flexibility to experiment and see the effects of varying the retrieve, killing it and letting it flutter down, deadsticking it, etc. So, I'm into trial and error. @Frenchman83 I understand you. I've read articles characterizing the swim jig as a "spinnerbait with a trailer and without blades" so that makes sense. I guess I can look at it as more subtle than a spinnerbait/trailer combo but bulkier than a swimbait on a plain jighead. Appreciate the input, guys, thanks.

What are the situations you fish a paddle tail swimbait on a swim jig vs. when do you chose to put the paddle tail on a plain jighead? In other words, when do you need a skirt vs no skirt?

@TheRodFather I think this is interesting too. I'm pretty sure the eyes are a plastic resin of some type. The eyes on the lure submerged for several months are now cloudy, I believe due to abrasion since it is right near a discharge outlet that can be very turbulent. There was already some faint rust around the hook hangers and split rings on the lures that were down for just a few days. There was considerable rust on the hooks of the lure that was stuck for months. I had cut the hooks off to make getting them out of the fabric easier, and because they were shot anyway. Only surface rust on the hook hangers, easily removed. I think the hook and split ring rust was what accumulated on the old lure. Yes, I use those cheap Eagle Claw snaps! Almost no rust on them.

It's also pretty good to find your own lost lures that you forgot about. This one place I fish has woven filter fabric exposed at the base of a dam, and that fabric is deadly on lures. I thought I had learned my lesson to avoid it after losing some lures there, but lost two of my favorites back-to-back last weekend. I went back to retrieve the two snagged red eye shads. The water is heavily stained. When I reached in and fumbled around to grab my chartreuse RES with the lure retriever, I wound up winding the fabric around the catcher as if I was twirling spaghetti around a fork. Then I slowly yanked out an armload of fabric - I got back both red eye shads and a bonus: one of my long-forgotten red eye shads plus a surprise - a bubblegum 5" dinger that had expanded to about 5 x its normal volume. Next time I think I will go back and "prune" some more fabric. I cleaned up the old red eye using the sonicare, ready for new hooks and to get back in service.

I wonder if the Mods would be OK with re-starting this popular thread anew for 2017? My first post was last year to mention that DSG was doing it's usual year end clearance in January. I have greatly enjoyed the board for a lot more than just the bait monkey-sponsored threads. This year DSG is starting 2017 with a buy 5 clearance/get 5 clearance sale. The "get 5" are the cheapest 5 of your lot of 10. I checked. Examples that I have seen on clearance include certain Rage plastics, VMC hooks, Bandit cranks, DD22's and older craw-colored Rapalas. Exactly what is on sale varies from store to store (e.g. some have VMC shakey heads on, some have certain Rage shellcrackers, some don't).

@wdp thanks very much. I fish a few different ponds that have varying conditions, but the one you described is pretty common. I will try your approach.

@wdp thanks very much for the details and suggestions. I figured they could work well. Can you comment on why you chose that type of head? Was it just what you had around for worm fishing? I assume that it is better to have a tighter profile head vs. a football (or other oblong shaped-) head in silt or sand?

2016 was the first year I really used plastics. (I'm fairly new to bass fishing with lures). The first success I had on a plastic in 2016 was hopping a Yum wooly hawgtail on a shakey head in a sandy bottom area. I didn't really know what I was doing, but it worked! I wound up T-rigging craws a lot in 2016. I'm hoping to use jig heads more in 2017. I mostly fish from shore, and usually in ponds with fairly soft bottom. What heads do you recommend for this application, shape/size/type/brand?

Several large boxes full. I'm not proud of it, but might as well admit it. I consider collecting baits when at deep discount to be a hobby of it's own. The DOE may have the strategic petroleum reserve, but I have stepped up to assemble and maintain the strategic Rapala Crankin' Rap reserve.

4.5 lb largemouth on a strike king banshee (DSG house version) buzzbait in "chartreuse belly craw." Interestingly, the same bait I caught my top bass of 2015 on, and I throw a wide assortment of baits for a bank fisherman. Just have to add in an honorable mention for my 8 year-old boy's best bass: 4.25 lb on a T-rigged YUM mighty bug retrieved on surface like a buzzbait, with heart-stopping blowup. All I did was a little coaching -- I am probably more proud of him getting that fish than any I caught myself in 2016.

For me it's any walking bait, any time. Specifically: SK KVD sexy dawg, Rapala skitter walk, and Heddon one knocker. Poppers are a close second, especially at night, but still second place, because I get restless on the pause.

Any brilliant methods to keep track of what line diameter (and maybe type) is on each of your reels? I have heard of guys using different colored lines for this purpose, but that's not going to work for me. I'm sure someone is going to say keep it simple and don't use too many line types - but I'm enjoying trying different options out. Surely someone out there has a cool "trick" to keep track of line. Any proven methods?

I am an avid bank fisherman and I used the orange spiderwire over-the-shoulder bag available from Walmart all 2015-2016. I love it. I started off with a fancy tackle backpack from Cabela's but took it back. The advantages of a good over-the-shoulder bag are: Wide top to pack plano boxes or the worm binders shown above. Super easy access and efficient use of space. I think it is way easier to have a single open compartment than to have boxes stacked deep. Can cast with it slung around your side without putting it down. This particular bag has the following: Appropriate amount of small pockets to organize hooks, sinkers, o-ring tools etc neatly in the front compartment - without also being so over-the-top that you squirrel stuff away and can't access it. Little cylinder things on the side that you can put a line spool on and spool up your reel without needing someone and a pencil to hold it (even puts a bit of tension on for you). Bigger than some of the less expensive over the shoulder bags - big enough for what I feel I need most outings. I also sometimes use a hard canvas over-the-shoulder bag for carrying lots of plastics if I am out for a longer trip and experimenting with different types. But a lot of guys would think that's excessive. Works for me.

Ha - fair enough - good point and agreed @Jaderose. I also have had success in ponds burning those traps along above the bottom vegetation, and that's a good thought for the OP too. As you put it perfectly, it helps to have a little bit of clearance up top when you are in a pond fishing from shore. The narrow profile of the trap body helps too, compared to a squarebill.

I'd say WRB's full response on this thread is a piece of Bassresource gold. I find that great stuff like this you can come back to again and again. The common thread to the responses is plastics because as WRB said, you can rig them weedless. If you follow his posts, you'll know Tom is a veteran hawg hunter. I'm coming at your questions as a rookie bankbeater that approached this same question only about two years ago, and the short answer for me has been to follow Tom's advice - plastics presentations where you can bury the hook so it is weedless, or use a weedless hook (e.g. weedless wacky). There is a reason why half the lures in a tackle shop in bass country are plastics. I'd say the answers you are getting are more about dealing with weeds than about being plastic. A T-rigged craw is a different animal than a mojo-rigged (but weedless) worm. If you aren't fishing weedless, you need to be fishing close to the surface with a topwater or shallow runner, because snags are always a problem fishing from the bank. Plastics are a diverse lot. In some areas, you might have sufficiently sparse weed cover that you can fish something that is not strictly weedless with confidence, and that's where I've found baits with a single hook and narrow profile like jigheads with paddletails can come through with limited weed accumulation. A crankbait or anything with trebles that gets into the weeds will be gunked up in no time. I assume you have some relatively open water in places in the pond - I do in my soft-bottom ponds. Those are the pond areas I'm inclined to chance a Ned Rig or something that isn't weedless.

OK that's good to hear. I didn't fish soft plastics much until this year, and just following this board has had a huge effect on my success. I love crankbaits, rattlebaits -- really all types of hard baits, but I find that learning to fish soft plastics has really been key to success in the kind of water you are describing, because they don't get hung up in all that grass. The flukes you have can take the place of the hard jerkbaits -- in fact they can be even more versatile because they will still attract strikes as they flutter down when you park them. I have had luck jerking them close to surface and when the bass are active and hitting baitfish near surface, skittering them on surface and letting them flutter down can be effective. You may need some larger EWG or straight-shank hooks for them than you have on your list, though, 3/0 will be OK but 4/0 and 5/0 can also work. I find the hook itself can provide a good weight balance for a fluke. On that note, you might have luck with those yo-zuris - not as many hits as with smaller baits, but bass as small as the lures will hit them for sure. Regarding the 30 lb braid on a baitcaster - you'll get the full range of opinions on that here, and from guys far more experienced than I am, but as a rookie I find 30 lb braid to be too light for a baitcaster. Again, that's a function of experience and opinion - but I know others on the board would also go heavier. Ned rig has been a miracle worker in soft-bottom ponds for me. I don't believe in wonder lures, but this is the closest I've seen to that. A surprise for me has been that lighter is usually better - I mean really small and light - 1/16 or even smaller. They offer ones with weedguards and you can get creative and rig sort of Texas-style - but I usually just bear with it in terms of the weeds. There have been some good threads on this subject that you can find. I'll try to link.

The situation you described is what I primarily fish. There are many many baits that have worked for me, but here are my top 3: 1. Senko or similar: T-rigged. 2. Craw: T-rigged. 3. Paddletail swimbait on a jighead. 4. Ned rig. 5. Also, I love to crank and wind and cover water where there are no obvious targets, and as @Yeajray231 says, its hard to beat the versatile original Rapala (and also the jointed and shallow shad rap). Worth considering that these float and you can control the depth by stopping and preventing snags. The Senko is much-loved by others and the links provided by RW are great - over time I've gone back to read them again and again and thanks to them I'm getting better with the stickbaits, but honestly still not my top producer. For me, Senkos T-rigged weightless are great for chucking at those targets you identified, great for tossing as a follow-up bait on a second rod. I tossed them into active bluegills late summer this year and after the splash that sends the 'gills running, there comes the familliar tick-tick of a bass picking up the bait. Great for weedy ponds because they don't accumulate many weeds. I personally have had luck with a T-rigged craw on a 3/0 to 5/0 EWG an none on a jig - but that might just be me. (I'm fairly new to bass). The craw is so versatile because it can fall and flutter in front of a target, can be hopped and swam to flutter its craws, and dragged slowly on the bottom. I love to fish them with a light weight or none at all and reeled across surface fast to churn and then stopped to flutter down a bit. I like Yum's mighty bug and Christie Craw but the Rage craws are probably great too. Paddletails can be rigged Texas too and straight retrieved, with or without a sinker. I like and have caught on the Keitech Fat Impact or Zoom paddletail fluke. They can make a good crankbait replacement, but are weedless and even when rigged on a swimbait or boxer jighead, they can be "weed resistant." They are more versatile than cranks in a way, because they can be stopped and let flutter down, or hopped on the bottom, or churned on the surface over shallow cover to create a wake and bascially work as a weedless topwater. I can't tell you how many times I've had them picked up off the botom by bass when I've "deadsticked" them and let them just sit and twitch on the bottom. Hope these suggestions help... There are many, many baits that I'd also fish in this situation. In the later spring and summertime, I love to fish topwaters and haven't met many I can't catch fish on - moving baits: buzzbaits, walking baits (KVD sexy dawg and Rapala Skitterwalk), and whopper ploppers stand out for me. The ned rig has been incredible for me in local shallow ponds - follow the directions on Glenn's video to a "T" and you will be surprised. My best morning this summer on one pond was 10 fish in 4 hours, at one point, 4 bass in 5 minutes! Not snag proof, so that's a consideration.

Bunnielab, you or one of the others on the board introduced these to me I've been using them with various baits since the summer. I love how well they are made and the sharpness of the hooks, but find both TRDs and swimbaits slip down from the head easily because of how short the hook is past the head. Do you glue yours? Also, on a ball head like that do you prefer to swim or hop your swimbaits, or fish them some with a variety of retrieves? Thanks.

Pretty sure the ones I noticed were $9.99 or so. They had several types including clackin minnows and clackin cranks in addition to the more common (to me) lipless versions. Not the family of lures I expected to come in and replace the old scatter raps. Not complaining. If this is not some weird one-off occurrence in a suburban DSG in Georgia, you will be in luck.

For everyone who likes to get hardbaits at DSG. I call it the "company store" because it is the only brick and mortar sports store with fishing gear in my suburban area. I noticed there are two new lines of hard baits in there: 1) For Rapala: it's the Clackin' raps - every size shape and color. 2) For Yo Zuri: it's every Sashimi out there. I assumed Clackin Raps are going out of style and being phased out, but there sure are a lot in there. As for Sashimi's - I think of them as a modestly-priced line of baits popular with inshore guys in Florida. But there was a huge selection. I'm betting these become the "livetargets" of 2017, where they occasionally go on sale at huge discounts. We will see... Interested to hear what kind of experiences people have had with these two lure lines.

FFO seems to be a popular site with a lot of members, and I've given them a chunk of business in the past few months. I have seen posts saying that reconditioned products tend to be excellent quality and problem-free, as you'd expect. From time to time, I have had to return a couple of reels for warranty work - its rare but it happens. Any experience with a warranty concern with an FFO reconditioned product? Thanks.

Nice clean up job for sure. I have found that my wife's sonicare toothbrush with a little extra baking soda added to the toothpaste works wonders on lures like this. I have my own dedicated lure scrubbing attachment, just so we don't get mixed up.